The Just and Faithful Forgiveness of God

Have you ever sinned, failed, or messed up, either in a small or large way and that sin made you feel a palpable distance between you and God? It’s common because that’s what sin does. It creates distance between us and God.

In the garden of Eden, before sin entered the picture, Adam and Eve had complete unhindered access to God. They could walk and talk and fellowship, face-to-face with God. But when they sinned they lost all of that because sin created a wedge between them and their perfectly holy Creator. While nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus—our sin can create a sense of separation and make us question our relationship with God.

Have you ever felt that way? You probably have. What you need to know is that Satan loves to enter into space created by the feeling of separation and fill it with lies. He will do everything he can to nurture and grow your doubts until you are too ashamed to approach God. Today, we’re going to consider truth from Scripture that will help us combat this lie from the devil.

If We Confess Our Sins

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (ESV)

Confession is the role that we play in regard to God’s forgiveness. Confession is a word that means to “agree with." In other words, when we confess sin, we cognitively, emotionally, and verbally agree with God that what we have done is wrong and falls short of His glorious perfection.

The prodigal realized what he had done, agreed in his heart, and said with his mouth that what He did was wrong. He knew his father’s house was better. When we confess our sins, we are acknowledging that God’s way is better. Once we have done that, God takes over. The next part of the speech is where the prodigal, (and we) miss the mark in understanding God’s forgiveness.

He is Faithful and Just to Forgive

John states, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us”. The amazing thing about God is that while we are often unfaithful, He is always faithful. It’s impossible for God to be unfaithful to what He promises. We are like the prodigal, we believe we are unfit to be God’s son or daughter. Yet Scripture says, when we confess our sins, there will never be a time or a place or an instance when sin will cause God to be unfaithful in offering His forgiveness to us.

Many of us simply don’t believe God is faithful to forgive. We wonder deep down inside if there’s a limit to His forgiveness towards His children. But that could not be farther from the truth. He is faithful to forgive, every single time, and there is not a type or quota of sin that can shake or change that faithfulness.

For example, when many of us mess up, we say a prayer like this: “God, I’m so sorry, please forgive me, please have mercy on me”. From there we go on to bargaining with God: “God, if you’ll forgive me, I’ll never do it again.” When we do this, we are missing a crucial truth about God’s character and put conditions on His forgiveness.

Notice that Scripture doesn’t say that “when we confess our sins God is faithful and merciful to forgive us if we promise to never do it again”, it says that “God is faithful and just” to forgive our sins.

God’s justice in forgiving sin is a key concept that most of us simply haven’t thought about in regards to God’s forgiveness.

You see, when Christ came to this earth, He lived a perfect life and He never sinned. And so when God sent Jesus to the cross, He did that so Jesus’ shed blood would be the once-and-for-all time payment for all of our sins. Not part of your sin. Not most of your sin. Not all of your sin except that really bad one you committed in high school. Jesus’ blood is the only condition necessary for your forgiveness. When Jesus hung on the cross, battered, bleeding, and broken, He cried out, “It is finished!” If you are a Christian, your sin is finished; it was canceled by Jesus on the cross.

Maybe you’ve struggled with believing that God could really forgive you. If you haven’t, you probably know someone who has. Here’s what you need to know; when we confess our sins to God, the Scripture says God is “just” to forgive us of our sins. For God not to forgive you would be unjust. Why? Because all your sin was already paid for by Jesus. And for God to not forgive a sin that had already been paid for, would be the height of injustice—something that God is incapable of. Your God is a faithful and just God. Your sin has already and forever been paid for and His justice demands that He can never hold that sin against you. Now and forever.

This content was excerpted and adapted from Matt Carter’s Bible Study The Prodigal Son: Discovering the Fullness of Life in the Love of the Father.

The Prodigal Son Bible study by Matt Carter walks through the parable of the prodigal son verse by verse, showing us what it means to follow God and walk with Him in a relationship of love and commitment, and ultimately illustrating that the best life is found in the love of our Father.